Texas is No. 1, while Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina round out the top five

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – GREENWICH, CT, May 8, 2014 – CEOs rated Florida as one of the top 10 states to do business, placing the Sunshine State at No. 2 out of 50, according toChief Executive magazine’s annual Best & Worst States for Business Survey, released today.

TheBest & Worst States for Business Survey gauges the sentiment of CEOs on a variety of measures that they themselves have viewed as critical. These include the tax and regulatory regime, the quality of the workforce, and the quality of the living environment. Five hundred CEOs participated in the 2014 survey. The rankings are crucial, as CEO sentiment drives investments in offices, factories and other facilities that bring jobs to a region.

“We’ve learned from Texas how to tell our story better and it helps that we’ve cut taxes 25 times, by about $400 million,” Florida Gov. Rick Scott told Chief Executive. “When companies like Hertz, Amazon, Deutsche Bank and Verizon add jobs here, it causes more people to look at us. Business is comfortable that we’ll keep the tax base low and improve our workforce.”

Florida also ranked as one of seven best states for startups. Lack of an income tax and low unemployment-insurance taxes helped Florida receive a No. 5 ranking by the Tax Foundation. It also ranked No. 11 in the Kaufmann Index. Strong population growth and a recovering housing market could be contributing to the growth of new businesses there.

“Florida’s leaders have been doing a good job of reinventing the state’s economy and understanding what it takes to create a well-rounded business ecosystem,” said Marshall Cooper, CEO of Chief Executive magazine and ChiefExecutive.net. “They’re ranking is well deserved.”

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